Australia says planes checking new search area

In this Wednesday, March 26, 2014 photo, Tactical Coordinator Imray Cooray operates from his station on board a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the southern Indian Ocean. A French satellite scanning the Indian Ocean for remnants of the missing jetliner found a possible plane debris field containing 122 objects, a top Malaysian official said Wednesday, calling it "the most credible lead that we have." (AP Photo/Paul Kane, Pool)

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Planes are searching a new area of the Indian Ocean for possible signs of the Malaysian airliner after a new analysis of radar data suggests the plane flew faster than thought and used up more fuel, which may have reduced the distance it traveled, Australia said Friday.

Based on the new information, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had shifted the search area for the jet that disappeared nearly three weeks ago to a region 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) to the northeast of where planes and ships had been trying to find any sign of it.

Four search planes were in the area Friday, and six ships were headed there, said John Young, manager of AMSA’s emergency response division, adding they had moved on from the previous search area, some 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth, Australia, the launching base for the search.

AMSA said the change in search areas came from new information based on continuing analysis of radar data between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca before radar contact was lost with Flight 370 early on March 8.

The analysis indicated the aircraft was travelling faster than previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel use and reducing the possible distance the aircraft could have flown into the Indian Ocean.

“This is our best estimate of the area in which the aircraft is likely to have crashed into the ocean,” said Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The new search area is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of an area in which apparently floating objects were spotted by Japanese, Thai and French satellites earlier this week. Most of the objects measured from about 1 meter (3 feet) to about 20 meters (65 feet).

Young said those satellite images “may or may not actually be objects,” and acknowledged that the search had moved away from that previous area.

He said it not unusual to make such changes and dismissed questions that the earlier searches had been a wasted effort.

“This is the normal business of search and rescue operations — that new information comes to light, refined analyses take you to a different place,” Young told reporters. “I don’t count the original work as a waste of time.”

The new area is 319,000 square kilometers (123,000 square miles) and about 1,850 kilometers (1,250 miles) west of Perth. The sea depth in the new area ranged from 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) to 4,000 meters (13,120 feet), Young said.

Australia’s HMAS Success and five Chinese vessels were on their way, and that the Success was expected to arrive there late Saturday night, he added.

Strong winds and currents have made it difficult to pinpoint objects spotted so far, and the search has yet to produce any trace of the plane.

Malaysian officials said earlier this week that satellite data confirmed the plane crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

Authorities are rushing to find any piece of the plane to help them locate the so-called black boxes, or flight data and voice recorders, that will help solve the mystery of why the jet, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, flew so far off-course. The battery in the black box normally lasts about a month.

For relatives of the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the various clues and failed searches so far have just added to their agonizing waits.

Wang Zhen, whose parents were aboard the missing plane, said in a telephone interview in Beijing that he was becoming exasperated.

“There is nothing I can do but to wait, and wait,” he said. “I’m also furious, but what is the use of getting furious?”